What is "in vino veritas"

prov. drunken folks speak truth, one tells the truth under the influence of alcohol

In vino veritas is a Latin phrase that means "in wine, truth", suggesting a person under the influence of alcohol is more likely to speak their hidden thoughts and desires. The phrase is sometimes continued as, "In vino veritas, in aqua sanitas", i.e., "In wine there is truth, in water there is health." Similar phrases exist across cultures and languages.

The expression, together with its counterpart in Greek, "Ἐν οἴνῳ ἀλήθεια" (En oinōi alētheia), is found in Erasmus' Adagia, I.vii.17. Pliny the Elder's Naturalis historia contains an early allusion to the phrase. The Greek expression is traced back to a poem by Alcaeus.

Herodotus asserts that if the Persians decided something while drunk, they made a rule to reconsider it when sober. Authors after Herodotus have added that if the Persians made a decision while sober, they made a rule to reconsider it when they were drunk ( Histories, book 1, section 133). The Roman historian Tacitus described how the Germanic peoples kept council at feasts, where they believed that drunkenness prevented the participants from dissembling.

In vino veritas is a Latin phrase meaning "in wine [there is the] truth".

In vino veritas may also refer to:

In television:

• "In Vino Veritas" (Law & Order), an episode of Law & Order
• "In vino veritas", an episode of Growing Pains
• "In Vino Veritas", an episode of Minder
• "In Vino Veritas", an episode of Royal Pains

In music:

• In Vino Veritas, an album by Airway Lanes
• In Vino Veritas, an album by Costello
• "In Vino Veritas", a song by Boyd Rice, Douglas P. and John Murphy from Heaven Sent